Perry's looking for @Rhodri but others are welcome to join them!
Peregrine's nostrils flared as he sniffed the air, sifting through all the scents on the chilly evening breeze. He singled out one he wanted to pursue—a (hopefully fattened) groundhog—and began trotting through the trees to hone in on the source of the smell. The fading February light didn't deter him in the least.
As he moved through the forest, he spontaneously barked the name of a relatively new pack mate:
"Rhodri!" If the pale yearling was within earshot, the Alpha male hoped he would join him to begin their first training session. He was now fairly established as a Gamekeeper himself and Peregrine couldn't wait to recruit another dedicated hunter and stockpiler.
Rhodri was settling in quite nicely within the ranks of Blacktail Deer Plateau. He hadn't yet met many of his pack mates, but he was becoming accustomed with the lay of the land. His first few days had been spent scouting out a densite, and he had eventually settled on an old log somewhere near the outskirts of the plateau's miniature forest. The fallen tree trunk had been hollowed out by time and perhaps by another animal, and the thick underbrush that surrounded it provided ample cover for a sleeping wolf during the night hours.
Though he was relatively happy, he was beginning to miss his family. At dusk, Rhodri could usually be found at the edge of the plain, gazing out over the region. Sometimes, he pretended he could see clear to the Seahawk Valley, pinpointing the location of Sterrenvuur in his mind. He was shuffling towards his usual vantage point, nose brushing lazily across the path in front of him, when he heard his name being called. Instantly, the youth froze, lifting his head and pricking his ears. He recognized the voice as belonging to Peregrine, and swiftly pivoted and began to canter toward his Alpha, sending up a short howl of reply to let him know that he was on his way.
He wasn't far from Peregrine, and he was soon approaching the charcoal-colored male. Rhodri adjusted his posture accordingly, though he greeted his superior with a smile and a swinging tail. "You called?" he said, slowing his pace to fall into stride alongside Peregrine.
Not long after a responding howl echoed through the darkling forest, Rhodri materialized, a pale wraith against the backdrop of dark trees. Peregrine's ears thrust forward as the younger male approached and his tail raised. The yearling submitted accordingly and, satisfied, the Alpha male stretched out his neck and nibbled the bridge of Rhodri's snout to show his approval.
"There's a juicy little groundhog around here somewhere. I'm going to kill it, then you're going to start a brand new cache. I'll leave it up to your discretion where to locate it, as I assume you've gotten to know the lay of the land since we last saw each other?" His dusky eyes lingered on the yearling's face and it was probably rather obvious that Peregrine was testing him and that Rhodri's answer would either pass or fail.
The Alpha wasted no time in explaining his plan to Rhodri. The aspiring gamekeeper listened with ears perked, nodding his assent quickly. Though he was a decent hunter, he excelled in caching -- at least, he had in Sterrenvuur under his father's guidance. He was eager to prove himself to Peregrine.
"Got it," he affirmed, bobbing his head again to accentuate his agreement. He had, indeed, been spending the majority of his time acclimating to his new packlands and learning the lay of the land around Blacktail Deer Plateau. Now, he waited for Peregrine to take the lead.
"You're a man of few words," the Alpha observed, "keeping everything short and to the point. I like that about you, Rhodri. Let's go." Without another word, he pivoted and began to trot away into the darkling forest, the groundhog's scent like a hook in his nose, reeling him along the game trail.
When the scent grew stronger and Peregrine knew he was approaching the small creature, he stopped and motioned for Rhodri to halt too. "Quietly, now," he whispered as she began to prowl forward, his large body surprisingly stealthy as he pressed forward through the brush.
Sight wouldn't serve him very well right now, so Peregrine used his nose and ears to calculate the groundhog's location. He froze for about ten minutes straight, trying to pinpoint it, before eventually executing his attack. He was a little bit off target—the groundhog lunged in fear at the first sound of rustling—but he managed to swipe it with a paw, overturn it and dispatch it with a swift bite to the throat.
A small smile tugged at the corner of Rhodri's mouth as Peregrine paid him a compliment. He took after his father in his manner of speaking; Chakra truly was a wolf of few words, and his father's simple and straightforward manner of speaking had provided an excellent model for his son. Though Rhodri was not impacted by the developmental delays that had shaped Chakra's childhood, he was very similar to the elder Ostrega in many ways.
Rhodri fell back as Peregrine took the lead, pressing his paws quietly into the snow so as not to make too much noise. He allowed the Alpha to take charge, watching as the larger male expertly tracked his prey. There was an immensely long pause in which Peregrine stood as motionless as a statue, and while Rhodri did his best to imitate the leader, he found himself shifting his weight restlessly after a few minutes. Their patience paid off, however, as Peregrine nailed the groundhog even before Rhodri could really locate it with his own senses.
Once the groundhog was motionless on its back between Peregrine's paws, Rhodri stepped forward. "That was impressive," he said, unable to keep the awe from creeping into his voice. He motioned toward the hog with his snout, indicating that he would be ready to take it from Peregrine whenever he was given direction.
Editing and concluding since Rhodri's been removed. Kim, if you rejoin, I'd be happy to revive this.
"Thanks," Peregrine responded simply and modestly. "It's all yours," he added, stepping back from the kill. "Now you just have to figure out the best place to start a new cache, keeping in mind where my pregnant mate lives." His tail waved when he mentioned Hawkeye's state and he tipped his muzzle and looked at Rhodri pointedly, hoping the male took the hint.
While waiting for Rhodri to pluck up the carcass and lead him, Peregrine remarked, "I'd like to learn more about you but it may be hard for you to speak with that in your mouth. Although I'm pretty good at reading body language—my brother, Crete, is mute—I doubt you've had much practice with conveying anything particularly complex." He smirked in a friendly way. "You walk, I'll talk."
True to his word, as soon as they began to walk, Peregrine shared, "Crete actually lives here, as do my other siblings, Atticus and Osprey. We grew up together in Flightless Falcons in Seahawk Valley and all recently transplanted here because our older brother took over and the pack went to shit, basically." Of course, Peregrine had no idea some of these names would be familiar to Rhodri or that his mother and Rhodri's father had been great friends.
This knowledge remained unrevealed until Rhodri found a suitable site for the cache and, with a nod of approval from the Alpha, set to work. Only when he dropped the carcass and began to dig did he regale Peregrine with the tale of his own childhood in Seahawk Valley. As it turned out, their parents had been very close friends during their own youths, a connection which the Alpha male wouldn't overlook, even if March Owl and Chakra hadn't seen much of one another over the years.
"Well done," were the swarthy leader's only words of praise when Rhodri finished his labors. Although he didn't say much, praise was difficult to earn from Peregrine and hopefully the yearling understood that. "Since it's well past bedtime, so to speak, I won't keep you tonight. Go on and get some rest. But I'll be calling on you again sometime tomorrow to continue this work. This pack could use a few more caches," he said astutely, squinting off into the forest.
"See you later, Rhodri," Peregrine said, then woofed to the subordinate and turned to head home to Hawkeye. In the morning, the two males would recommence their endeavor and it it would be, unknowingly, their final get-together as pack mates. Not long after, the pale yearling would abscond into the unknown, much to Peregrine's genuine disappointment.